Out of the woods: Protecting tropical forests

Tropical rainforests are the original skyscrapers: multi-level ecosystems with a different composition of plants and animals on each story. The dark and shady forest floor is rife with leafcutter ants and poison dart frogs. The understory, a maze of large leafy plants, hosts boa constrictors and Bengal tigers. The canopy, the layer of branches and leaves 30-45 feet off the ground, is home to the majority of rainforest species, including bonobos, sloths, epiphytic orchids, toucans, iguanas and more. Far fewer species, such as blue morpho butterflies and crowned eagles, can survive in the emergent layer, which is brutally exposed above the canopy. All told, these rainforests, which only cover 10% of Earth’s land surface, contain at least two-thirds of the world’s biodiversity. Innumerable undiscovered species live in tropical rainforests – some of which may provide compounds that cure diseases, much like the Madagascar periwinkle, the discovery of which led to treatments for various cancers. Tropical deforestation, among other human factors, is driving an unprecedented rate of extinction. Estimates vary, but tropical deforestation may cause anywhere from 20,000 – 83,000 species extinctions per year.

Rainforests may also possess part of the cure for climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks and leaves. When tropical forests are cut or burned down, carbon is released into the atmosphere and the potential for future carbon dioxide capture is lost. The carbon dioxide released from tropical deforestation has accelerated so drastically that if tropical deforestation was a country, it would have the third largest carbon footprint in the world – only behind China and the U.S.

The livelihoods of communities around the world depend upon the health of forests. Communities that live in or near forests often rely on the food (fruit, nuts, game) and the ecosystem services provided by rainforests, including pollination, erosion prevention, flood control and water filtration. Millions of Indigenous people live in tropical rainforests. When deforestation displaces these people, they lose ancestral lands that provide life-sustaining resources.

For some cultures, forests provide more than sustenance. Many forests are held sacred and intertwined with the cultures of the people that live in and near them, some of whom have been tied to the forest for millennia. Perhaps for this reason, forests that are owned legally or customarily by Indigenous communities are deforested half as much as other forests. A growing body of evidence suggests that ensuring Indigenous communities’ free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), which is the internationally enshrined right of Indigenous Peoples to withhold consent from any operations in their territories, is a smart and ethical conservation strategy.

Beef production is the number one driver of tropical deforestation. About 60% of the world’s agricultural land is used for beef production, even though it accounts for only 2% of calories consumed worldwide. The beef industry currently causes 25% of global land-use emissions. A portion of these emissions are produced before the cattle even begin grazing, when ranchers burn down tropical forests to make room for pastures.

The production of soy, which is derived from soybeans, is the second greatest driver of tropical deforestation globally. Soy has many applications, including cooking, biofuel, industrial products and food. However, only 7% of soy products (tofu, soy milk, etc.) are used for direct consumption. More than three-quarters of the world’s soy is used to produce livestock feed.

Harvesting wood products, including lumber, paper and wood pellets, is the third greatest driver of deforestation globally. Much of the timber and wood pulp in the U.S. comes from boreal forests in countries including Canada, Russia and China. Boreal forests are important carbon reservoirs and ecosystems, which are in need of protection from forest degradation. However, wood products are also extracted from tropical forests, especially in Indonesia, where natural forests are harvested and replaced with tree plantations.

Palm oil is derived from the fruit of oil palm trees. Often used for its ability to give products a longer shelf life, palm oil can be found in chocolate, soap, pizza, lipstick, shampoo, biodiesel, instant noodles, and much more. Even though palm oil is found in products all over the world, 87% of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Americans consume 58 million pounds of chocolate just during the week of Valentine’s Day. Although some of the world’s largest chocolate producers are in the U.S., 70% of the world’s cocoa beans are grown in West Africa, specifically Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The rising demand for chocolate and history of poverty in the region has led farmers to engage in unsustainable farming practices and inhumane labor practices, including child labor.

In the United States, about 513 million cups of coffee are consumed every day. The coffee comes from beans grown in tropical regions around the world, especially from Brazil and Vietnam. The majority of today’s coffee beans are sun-grown, which requires clearing tropical forests to grow the plants in direct sunlight. One study estimated that 100,000 hectares of forest are lost each year to expand coffee plantations, which is an area almost the size of Hong Kong.

Although natural rubber is used to make more than 40,000 products, the vast majority – 70% – is purchased by tire manufacturers. Natural rubber is derived from latex, a liquid found in many plants, including Hevea brasiliensis: the rubber tree. Despite originating in South America, 90% of the world’s rubber is grown in Southeast Asia.